Last year at Computex, I stumbled upon a cool smart ring and wrote about it. It was also my first year covering Computex and I had honestly never heard of bone actuator tech, hence the discovery of said smart ring that allowed me to make calls with my finger blew my mind.

This was the ORII ring, and a year later, I find them again at Computex and they have even more to offer.

When I first interviewed Emile and Kevin, founders of ORII’s Origami Labs, I only saw prototypes and one functioning ring for audio demos. These days, the rings are fully functional and are shipping to initial Kickstarter backers. More functionalities are added on, with even more features to come in the future.

What’s new with ORII?

For starters, the ORII ring is even smaller and more polished. It’s now at a size that I would actually wear for the tech.

And, as promised, it comes in more colors: There’s a red one that goes well with my hair, in addition to black, silver, and gray ones. This is a big deal to me because last year, there were only black and gray rings, and now color is finally here!

The ring comes with different ring sizes, too, so it fits every finger. It’s also splash-proof with an IPX7 rating so everyday wear is a possibility.

It comes with a charging dock, but it seems that the ring won’t be on it a whole lot as it has a whopping two days of battery standby time and two whole hours of talk time. That’s a lot considering you’ll only ever be using it for short commands and calls don’t usually last that long (we hope!).

So, how does it work?

With the ORII ring, you need only your finger to be able to hear things from your phone. The ring has a built-in mic so you can actually make calls — like a real spy.

Smart assistants are also compatible with the ORII. Using just the ring, you can send messages and issue smart commands to Google Assistant, Siri, or Alexa, without even having to look at your phone.

It has gesture commands and there’s also a button on the side of the ring that you can program depending on what you want it to do. For example, just raising your finger to your ear can activate the mic, or pressing the button can trigger your smart assistant.

At the bottom of the ring is a small LED light that’s a discreet way to give you notifications. Designed so only you can see the quick prompt, the lights are also fully customizable.

Meaning, you can change the colors depending on what app is alerting…

… or even choose which people messaging get special alerts.

Think of all the things you can do with this thing! Everything will literally be at the tip of your fingers.

Admittedly, I got sentimental when I tested out the ORII again. I personally saw the growth of this tech firsthand and it’s great to actually try out technology that only a year ago, Emile and Kevin were just describing to me. They’ve come a long way from last year and yet again I am impressed with their progress.

What I love about the ORII is how different it is to what we already have in the market. It’s great to see tech that breaks out from the usual mold of what current wearables are and what they do.

I’d totally rock this ring, and it’s not just because it matches my hair.

Literally breathe easy with this portable device, and never have to deal with allergens and foul smells again.

This is the Luft Qi air purifier from startup company Titus&Wayne. Announced first on Indiegogo, the purifiers debuted at InnoVex during Computex 2018. I got to check them out at the event.

These tiny things, the size of a soda can, can filter the air to get rid of germs, toxic chemicals, bacteria, viruses, and even bad odors.

They’re lightweight and come in different colors — there’s even a limited edition handmade wood version available to Indiegogo backers that look especially classy. Because of their compact shape and size, they’re also ideal for those who travel. It’s particularly useful to those who are extra sensitive when it comes to allergens since you can bring it anywhere you go with ease.

Just one plug into a micro-USB power source and you’re all set; the purifier covers the surrounding 16 square meters. It’s pretty quiet, too. You won’t even know it’s running.

These things do not use filters. Nanotechnology is instead used to break down whatever impurities are in the air. This means that more than 80 percent of bacteria and mold are destroyed with this device on in just 30 minutes (according to independent studies). This also means you’ll never have to clean it out.

Here’s a quick and simple illustration of how it works:

Think about it: In your own room, in your car, or even in a hotel room, you get the luxury of clean air all the time.

The Luft Qi won a GadgetMatch Best of Computex award!

The Luft Qi ships this July, you can back their campaign on Indiegogo here.

SEE ALSO: Best of Computex 2018

It’s that time of the year again! Asia’s biggest tech show Computex is drawing to a close and we’re handing out awards to the products that shined brightest for us.

Without further ado, these are our winners for Best of Computex 2018:

ASUS ROG Phone

If there’s one product that wowed us most at Computex 2018, it was the ROG Phone. After years of research and development, ASUS’ ultimate gaming has arrived with all the bells and whistles. We believe ASUS when they say this was made by gamers for gamers.

ASUS VivoWatch BP

Bringing together health and tech is recipe for success, and the VivoWatch BP proves that. It goes beyond the call by accurately tracking your blood pressure in only 15 seconds! Plus, it can seamlessly connect to your smartphone using ASUS’ HealthAI technology.

Acer Predator Helios 300 Special Edition

The Predator Helios 300 Special Edition is by far the most attractive gaming laptop at Computex 2018. Its all-white chassis and gold accents make for a spectacular sight in a sea of black gaming notebooks. It’s fast too with the latest-generation hardware you can find.

Acer Predator X27

There was a bunch of great gaming monitors at Computex 2018, but none stood out as much as the Predator X27. You can’t go wrong with a 4K HDR panel with NVIDIA’s G-Sync technology on top of a refresh rate of 144Hz and fast 4ms response time — that’s really all you need!

Qualcomm Snapdragon 850

The Snapdragon 850 is an even better, badder chipset. Designed for PCs and two-in-ones, this has more computing power in a lighter package than previously thought possible. Improving from the idea that was launched last year, this new processor takes “Always on, always connected” to a whole new level.